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VARIATION OF PROXIMATE COMPOSITION AND MINERALS WITHIN DIFFERENT PARTS OF CAPPARIS DECIDUA (FORSSK.) EDGEW. AS A FUNCTION OF HARVESTING SEASONS

TEHSEEN GULL¹, ZAHED MAHMOOD^2*, FAROOQ ANWAR^3,4, BUSHRA SULTANA^1*,  WASIF NOUMAN⁵, SHAUKAT ALI SHAHID⁶ AND MUHAMMAD ZAFAR IQBAL⁷

Abstract: Capparis decidua (C. decidua) is an important medicinal plant from the family Capparaceae. The present study explores the proximate (moisture, protein, crude fiber, dry matter) composition and minerals profile of various  parts including stem bark, fruit shoot, root and flower of C. decidua  harvested from Cholistan desert, Punjab, Pakistan in two seasons i.e., April and September. C. decidua fruits contained relatively higher amounts of proximate constituents followed by the flowers especially in case of protein while stem bark and roots mainly contained fiber. In comparison with other parts, the content of minerals was higher while traces of heavy metals i.e. Ni, Co and Cd were recorded in C. decidua fruits and flowers. Overall, harvesting seasons exhibited a significant (p<0.05) effect on the distribution of most of the constituents within different parts of Capparis decidua. The samples collected in September were found to be richer in protein and minerals and vice versa. The results of this study support that C. decidua fruits and flowers can be explored as a viable source of minerals and vegetable protein both for human beings and livestock to supplement nutrition.

Key words: Capper, flowers, fruits, protein, atomic absorption spectrophotometer, minerals potassium

¹Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan

²Department of Applied Chemistry and Biochemistry, GC University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

³Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan

⁴Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University

Al-Kharj PO Box 173, 11942, Saudi Arabia.

⁵Department of Forestry & Range Management, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan

⁶Department of Physics, University of Agriculture Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan

⁷Department of Statistics, University of Agriculture Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan

^*Corresponding authors e-mails: drzahiduaf2003@yahoo.com, bushrasultana2005@yahoo.com